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PHILADELPHIA : 

J. B. LTPPINCOTT COMPANY. 

1892. 



PHILIP HENRY SHERIDAN, 




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PHILADELPHIA: 

J, B. MPPINCOTT COMPANY. 

1892. 



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Copyright, 1892, by J. B. Lippincott Company. 



I 



PHILIP HENRY SHERIDAN. 



Sheridan, Philip Henry, was born in 
Albany, New York, March 6, 1831, but a few 
weeks after the arrival of his Irish parents in the 
New World. After attending a public school in 
Ohio, to which state the family removed soon after 
his birth, he was employed for a time as a shop- 
boy. In July 1848 he was appointed a cadet at 
West Point, graduated in ISoS, and was appointed 
a brevet second-lieutenant in the Third Infantry. 
In May 1861 he was a captain in the Thirteenth 
Infantry, and in December of that year he was 
made chief quartermaster of the army in south- 
western Missouri. In April 18G2 he became chief 
quartermaster under C4eneral Halleck ; b\it in May 
he was given a regiment of cavalry (the Second 
Michigan), and, being now in his proper sphere, 
did such excellent work that he was soon pro- 
moted to the command of a brigade, and then 
to a division of the Arujy of the Ohio. In the 
battle of Perry ville (8th October), and still more 
in the battle of Stone River (Murfreesboro'), which 
ended on 3d January 1863, and where his division 
lost over 1600 men, he performed brilliant services, 
and earned his promotion to major-general of 
volunteers. He took part in the severe Ijattle of 
Chickamauga, from which held the Northern army 
fell back within the defences of Chattanooga, and 
there, serving now under the immediate eonnnand 
of General Grant, he was engaged in all the 
operations of the campaign that followed, gaining 
especial credit for the dash and gallantry with 
which his division drove the enemy up the slope 
and over the summit of Mission Ridge. Soon 
afterwards transferred to Virginia, in April 1864 he 
was given eonnnand of all the cavalry of the Army 



4 PHILIP HENRY SHERIDAN. 

of the Potomac, took part in the battle of the 
Wilderness, and made a notable raid (May 9-25) 
on the Confederate lines of communication with 
Richmond, advancing to the outer defences of that 
city, cutting railroads, destroying dep6ts, and on 
the 11th defeating the enemy's cavalry at Yellow 
Tavern with the loss of their commander, General 
Stuart. In the same month he was first into Cold 
Harbor, and in June took part in the heavy battle 
there, and fought a number of cavalry actions. In 
all these his dash and skill attracted Grant's 
admiration, and in August he placed Sheridan in 
command of the Army of the Shenandoah, giving 
him two cavalry divisions conmianded by Generals 
Torbert and Wilson. The task set him was to 
drive the Confederates out of the Shenandoah 
Valley and to close this gate into Pennsylvania 
and Maryland. In September he attacked the 
enemy under General Early, drove them through 
and many miles beyond Winchester, and captured 
5000 prisoners and 5 guns ; and from Fisher's HillX 
where Early halted, he again dislodged him, and 
pursued him through Harrisonburg and Staunton. 
These battles made him a brigadier-general in the 
regular army. But Early's army, being largely 
reinforced by General Lee, a^ain appeared in the 
Shenandoah Valley, and on October 19, advancing 
under cover of fog and darkness, succeeded in sur- 
prising the Northern army .and driving it back in 
confusion. Sheridan had lieen in Washington, and 
at this time was at Winchester, twenty miles ?i^vay. 
Hearing the guns, he put his horse to its speed, and 
arrived on the field by ten o'clock, waving his li.at 
and shouting to the retreating troops, ' Face the 
other way, boys; we are going back.' His unex- 
pected appearance restored confidence, the lines 
were re-formed, and a serious defeat was suddenly 
converted into a great victory. The enemy's left 
Avas soon routed, the rest shared their fate, and 
the Confederates were again, and finally, driven 
from the valley, whieli Sheridan, by Grant's orders, 
now devastated. For ^Vin(•llester he was promoted 
to major-general and recei^•ed the thanks of con- 
gress, and Grant's armies fired a salute of 100 guns 
in honour of the victory. 

Henceforward Sheridan fought always under 
Grant's direct command, aiid took an active part 
in the final battles which led to Lee's surrender 
at Appomattox Court-house, April 9, 1865. His 
ability as a general was nowhere better displayed 
than in the action at Dinwiddle Court-house and 



PHILIP HENRY SHERIDAN. 5 

the assault of Five Forks in March and April, 
which drove Lee from Petersburg and Richmond. 
After the war Sheridan was placed in command of 
the military division of the Gulf, and later of the 
department of the Missouri. When Grant became 
president of the United States General Sherman 
was made general-in-chief and Sheridan promoted 
to lieutenant-general. In 1870 the latter visited 
Europe to witness the conduct of the Franco- 
(ierman war, and was with Von Moltke during 
the battle of Gravelotte. On the retirement of 
Sherman in 1883 he succeeded him as general-in- 
chief. In May 1888 Sheridan became seriously ill, 
and a bill was speedily passed by both Houses of 
Congress restoring for him the full rank and 
emoluments of general. He died at his countiy- 
house in Nonquitt, Massachusetts, August 5, 1888, 
leaving a widow and three children. He was 
buried" at Arlington, Virginia, within sight of 
Washington, where a beautiful monument marks 
his grave. 

Sheridan was the nineteenth general-in-chief of 
the United States army. He never lost a battle, 
and the confidence aiid affection which ' Little 
Phil,' as they delighted to call him, inspired, in 
his troops may be gauged by the story of Win- 
chester. . Among the Northern generals he ranks 
second only to Grant and Sherman. See his 
Personal Mrmoirs (2 vols. 1888). 



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